This blog will be devoted to my culinary adventures in New York. My thoughts on New York City can be found here. I have – on your behalf – sampled many Hot Dogs, found countless interesting eateries, traveled across town (and in the process nearly missed my bus to Philadelphia), and probably put on some weight* to find the best food New York City has to offer at a reasonable price.
So on to the optimal Hot Dog. ( Savouring the best food til last :) ) Every New York City street corner with high footfall seems to be adorned with the same food cart – the one thing I think I have no proper picture of… see 2 photos below for a glimpse, – or its older brother ( with the vendor inside, though there seems to be no room to swing a cat let alone cook… mind you it isn’t really ‘cooking’…). There must a cartel the food looks identical, the vans, and the vendors….
The only difference, occasionally, seems to be price. I’ve eaten $2 & $2.5 Hot Dogs. Paying any more isn’t worth it, and I’ve found the better the Hot Dog, the cheaper it is… Once you have found a reasonable price ( avoid museums, as they tend to be more expensive – though at snooty one, i.e Guggenheim, I don’t think street food is aimed at them…), it is time to select the sauces ‘Hot Sauce’ (mustard) is required. As is ‘Red’.
Now as the bun ,nor napkin given are adequate, you have to be careful – the sauces are runny so can easily drip onto you…. Occasionally onions are offered. They are not the traditional British version, but in tomato sauce. They can clash wonderfully with the mustard sauce. But don’t have all three. It is a dreadful clash & the potential for spilling increases tenfold. The roll seems to just be a delivery vehicle for the Hot Dog, so don’t expect much.
Slightly larger trucks are a better bet:
, and you are more likely to get some vegetables or salad. I tried this chicken combo:
Which was rather enjoyable – chicken thigh with some sort of seasoning; middle eastern I think. With good basmati rice, chickpeas, salad & ‘white sauce’. They had a good trade of office workers & had apparently been featured in the New York Times or Post or both – I can’t remember. The food was reasonable priced at $5. However, I found at this truck the chicken had been kept warm with water in the pot so the flavour was diluted. On the whole, it was good for fueling the afternoon of a very busy day!
Near the Hostel there was a small Malaysian restaurant which did some dumplings:
They were nothing special, even though I had been told they were, which was a shame.
Standing in the line to see the taping of Letterman, two gentlemen behind me were raving about Stake & Shake. On my way out, I was feeling peckish and it was way past dinner time, so I popped in. This is how fast food i.e Mac Donalds should be done – (the following description is in the context of fast food, not proper food!) the stake burger had a good amount of plastic cheese, salad, fat and gherkin. This combination came together wonderfully, almost melting into one.
The fries, once again, failed to impress. However the milkshake was swell. It was freshly made, ‘with real milk’ and was gloopy, and strawberry flavoured. Although it also contained yogurt I dread to think how many calories it had, especially with the fresh whipped cream and cherry on top… :
It was so much better than Mac Donalds version!
It was suggested to me that I should visit Carnegie Deli, so I did. It almost turned me veggie!
I had the pastrami sandwich to go, and I didn’t open it til I got to the High Line. It was huge:
It had about 2.5 inches of pastrami between two tiny pieces of bread – really an afterthought to be honest. Also, I was given some mustard, and a gherkin. The pastrami had lots of flavour, with good peppery notes, but was very very salty. There was too much meat – I guess they had to justify their $18. I would have been happy with only a few strips of pastrami and a significant reduction in price. The sandwich was an interesting experience, but there really was far too much meat & salt.
So onto my final notable meal in New York City. In Time Out, I think; or some other listing mag, there was a feature of a Texan / South Carolina joint focusing on BBQing. BBQ in America is essentially slow cooking with smoke, and using certain rubs & logs for the fire as opposed to the British obsession burning.
The place I was going to was way out of my day, but was worth it. I smelt the place before I saw it…! I was torn between brisket, pulled pork and ribs.
As the pulled pork had just come out, I plumped for that. Though if I had the time, money, and cholesterol beating body I would have savoured everything – the smell was making my taste buds go into overdrive, fantasizing. Some amazing looking pulled pork went into a brioche bun, and there was a side of salad ( a choice of vinegar or mayo dressing) I also chose the baked beans – nowhere near Heniz. This had the burnt scraps added and lots of other bits and bobs – a southern speciality.
The brilliant food:
So how was it? The slowly smoked pork was so flavoursome, with lovely smokey notes (obviously!) that gave amazing depth. Take the delight that slow roast pork is normally, and quadruple it. I’d love to try different smokes. A slight down note, was that parts were slightly dry. However over all it was awesome. Though again the bun, this time brioche, was a bit of a let down – I think I’m too attuned to to sweetness! The salad was needed. I’m not sure I would have chosen the mayo dressing as the food needed some acid to cut through the meat & fat. The baked beans were moorish, and the smokey depth given by the burnt bits brilliant. However the oil collecting on the top was slightly off putting, and so I didn’t finish them – my veins are probably getting clogged up enough / I’m not gung-ho enough…
Combined, it was a sumptuous half hour and worth the race to get back up to the hostel, collect my bag & get to the bus station – that must have burnt some of the calories… Right?!
* I’m already planning on losing it, honest!
A Blog by Wil 